Phonograph.



N. H. HOLLAND.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED mums. 1914.

1 1 78,0 1 4 Patented 7 Apr. 4, 1916,

14 I 445 V j 1 W/TNESSES 26 16 y 23 47 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEWMAN H. HOLLAND, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO NEW JERSEY PATENT COMPANY, OF

JERSEY.

PHONO GRAPH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

Application-filed July 13, 1914. Serial No. 850,603.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEWMAN H. HoL- LAND, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of West Orange, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonographs, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to phonographs and more particularly to phonographs of the business or commercial type, and comprises an improvement upon a device or combination of devices described in my copending application, Serial No. 818,892, filed- February 16, 1914. 4

It has for its principal object the provision of improved means whereby the reproducer stylus of the phonograph can be moved or spaced ,back for. the purpose of causing the repetition of'any portion of the record whenever the operatorwho is transcribingthe record so desires. This object is attained by means of a construction whereby the reproducing stylus can be shifted back over part of the record to repeat the same without the necessity of being lifted from the record, this construction greatly facilitating the rapidity and efiiciency of operation of the back spacing device. I have found that in back spacing the reproducer stylus, the forwardly projecting pin, which is commonly used with a U-shaped loop to limit the lateral and the downward movement of the stylus lever, does not assume a central position in the loop, but remains in contact with the side of the loop, whereby the flexibility of movement of the stylus lever is impaired.

-A further object of my invention is to provide means by which the reproducing stylus is always compelled to assume a central position in relation to its mounting after the stylus hasvbeen slid across the record. With this object in view, I preferably employ a weight or gravity arm which forces the stylus lever to assume a central position when the reproducer stylus has been moved or spaced along the record.

The drawing-illustrates one embodiment of my invention, the same reference characters being used to designate the same parts in all the views.

In said drawingsFigure 1 is a rear elevation, partly in sectlon, of said embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 1s a transverse vertical section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 1s a vertical sectional view '8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing certain parts in a slightly different position; and Fig. 9 is a horizontal view of a constructional detail.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a phonograph record or blank which is rotatably mounted upon a frame or support 2.

In proximity to this record is an arm or traveling carriage 3 which supports a pivoted frame 3' in which the recorder and reproducer are mounted. The reproducer and recorder may be of any suitable construction, the numeral 4- designating the reproducer stylus which is adapted to track the grooves in the record 1. A suitable form of reproducer is disclosed in my application Serial 'No. 776,463, filed June 30, 1913, and entitledphonograph reproducers. A feed screw 5 is mounted in bearings formed in standards 6 which project upwardly from the top of the table 2. A pulley 7, over which runs a driving belt 8, operated by any suitable means, imparts rotation to the mandrel 9 through the mandrel shaft (not shown). The mandrel carries the record or blank 1. The feed screw 5 carries a gear 10 which meshes with a similar gear (not shown) on the mandrel shaft whereby rotation may be imparted to the feed screw in a manner well known in the phonograph art. The feed'screw coactswith a feed nut 11 connected to the arm 3 to move the latter and the parts carried thereby along the record or blank 1.

The arm 3 and the structure supported thereby is mounted to slide along a rotatable back rod or rock shaft 13 and for this purpose the arm is provided with a hub 14 having an extension 15, the hub 1a and extension 15 being both slidable and rotatable on said rod. The forward end of arm 3 slides upon a guide rod 15 running from one side of the machine to the other. The hub 14 is provided with an enlarged opening or recess 16 for receiving certain elements hereinafter referred to. As shown in Fig. 1, the extension 15 is of less outside diameter than the hub 14, a shoulder being thus formed at the inner end of the extension 15. Through a screw threaded opening in this shoulder passes a small screw 17, the inner end of which projects into the opening or recess 16 and engages an annular cam disk 18, which is mounted to move along the spindle 13 with the arm 3. The inside diameter of this disk is slightly larger than the diameter of the spindle 13, and into the central opening through the disk projects a radially disposed pin 19 which engages a keyway 20 extending along the spindle 13 substantially from one end to the other thereofi This pin causes the cam disk 18 to rotate with the spindle 13 whenever the same is rocked, no matter at what point along the spindle 13 the cam disk may be, while at the same time leaving the cam disk free to slide along the spindle as much as necessary. On the face of disk 18 which is turned toward the screw 17, this disk is provided with a recess 21, one edge of which is abrupt or at right angles to the face of' the disk and the other of which is inclined to said face, as shown at'22 inFig. 5. This recess receives the projecting end of the screw 17, and the parts are arranged in such a way as to cause the disk to abut against the side of the recess through which the screw 17 projects and the inner end of this screw to rest against the abrupt side of the notch 21 when the disk has its pin engaging the kevway 20 and the arm 3-is moving along the record or blank 1.

\Vith the above construction in view it will now be clear that if the back rod or shaft 13 is rocked in the direction shown by the arrows on Figs. 3 and 4, the arm 3 and the hub 14 and extension 15 being loose on the shaft and not engaging the keyway 20 will not be rocked with the shaft 13, but the cam disk 18 will be moved so as to carry the inclined edge 22 of the recess over the inner end of the screw 17. Owing to the fact that the opening through the cam disk is slightly larger than the diameter of the rod 13, the first effect of this movement is to tilt or cant the disk from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4 in which latter position the cam disk binds or bites upon the rod 13, and cannot be tilted on the rod or pushed along the same any farther. If, however, the rod 13 rotates a little more, the inclined edge 22 of the recess 21 now has'a cam action on the screw 17 and produces bodily movement of the arm 3 through the hub 14 and the extension 15. This bodily movement carries the arm 3 to the right, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 1, and as the arm 3 is not lifted in the rocking of the rod 13, the stylus 4 is not lifted,but slides or skids along the record 1 until it again comes to rest in one of the sound wave grooves at a point which it has already passed. In the operation of my invention, when the spindle 13 is released and moved back to its original position, the cam washer moves back with it and the parts resume the relative positions shown in Figs. 4 and 6. In this way, the stylus is spaced back to a position from which it is ready to repeat a part of the record. A compression spring 23, encircling the rod 13 in the recess 16, engages at one end with the cam disk 18 and holds it in position to act upon the screw 17 at all times, in the manner abo e set forth.

WVhen the arm 3 is to be shifted back, it is necessary to disengage the feed nut 11 from the feed screw 5. For this purpose, my invention comprises a part 24 projecting from hub 14 and having downturned lugs 25 between which is pivotally mounted a lever 26. This lever-26 carries a spring arm 27 which extends toward the screw 5, an carries at its outer end the feed nut 11, Which engages the upper portion of the feed screw 5. So long as the threaded shaft 5 turns clock-Wise, viewing the same from the right on Fig. 1, the arm 3, with the parts carried thereby, will be moved along the spindle 13 to the left, because of the engagement of the feed nut with the feed screw. When the feed nut 11 is lifted from the feed screw, the arm 3 is free to move backward. A spring 29 secured at its upper end to the arm 3 presses downward upon the arm 27 and holds the feed nut against the feed screw, an adjusting screw 30 passing through the lever 26 from below and engaging the lower side of the spring-arm 27 to adjust the position of the feed nut with respect to lever 26 and feed screw 5. The feed nut 11 is adapted to be lifted from the feed screw 5 by means of a cam 31 located in recess 16 and mounted on rod 13, cam 31 having a pin 31' similar to the pin 19 of the washer 18 to engage the keyway 20. This cam is engaged by the spring 23 and is forced by it against the side of the recess 16 opposite that occupied by disk 18. One side of the lever 26 overlaps the edge of this recess as shown in Figs. 1 and 4:, and this portion of the lever 26 is moved by the cam when the spindle 13 and cam 31 are rocked through a certain angle, to press the rear end of the lever 26 downwardly against the force of the spring 29 to lift the feed nut 11 from the feed screw 5. The cam 31 slides withthe arm 3 along the rod 13 and can be turned by this spindle when the arm 3 is in any position longitudinally of the said rod, the same as the cam washer 18.

In order to permit rocking or rotation of the rod 13 through a sufiicient angle to operate the cam 31, to free the arm from the feed screw 5, and to operate the disk 18 to shift the arm 3 backward, I mount the rod 13 in bearing blocks 32, secured in the upper ends of the standards 6 and provided with bores which receive journals or trunnions 33 at the ends of the rod 13. I also secure to one end of the shaft an operating arm 34 which is fixed thereon so that when the arm is actuated, the shaft 13 must rock. This arm is engaged by a spring 35, which is made fast thereto at one end, and, after encircling the shaft 13, is fixed at the other end to the top of the adjacent standard 6. Normally, this spring holds the arm in such position that it extends vertically downward, so as to keep the keyway 20 on the under side of the shaft and the feed nut 11 in engagement with the feed screw. In order to provide means for moving the arm 34 and rocking rod 13, I connect the said arm to the armature of an electromagnet, which is in circuit, with a suitable source of electricity, the circuit being adapted to be closed to energize the magnet whenever the operator desires. This armature is provided at its upper end with a member 36, said member having an elongated slot 36 containing a pin 34 on arm 34. The armature is shown at 37 supported to extend upward from a suitable pivot 37 in a frame 38 on the table 2. This frame also carries the core 39 and coil 40 in position to attract the armature 37; and also secured to this frame is an upwardly extending spring arm 41, having a cushion 42 on its upper end to act as a buffer for the member 36 and prevent the spring 35 from moving the arm 34 beyond vertical position when the armature is not attracted by the magnet. The magnet is supplied with current from the suitable source of electricity,

such as a battery 43, and the circuit is arranged to be opened and closed by means of a switch 44. The preferred construction for this switch is disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 818,894, filed February 16, 1914.

Upon the frame 3 and back of the stylus 4 a weight or gravity arm 46 is pivotally mounted upon a lug 47 projecting from a downwardly projecting pin 48, said pin being rigidly connected, as by means of a. screw 49, to the frame; 3". The pivotal mounting of the weight arm is shown in detail in Fig. 9, in which numerals 50, 50 indicate the pivot pins. Numeral 51 indicates a pin projecting from the reproducer weight 52, which is pivoted for lateral f movement at 53 and carries the stylus lever 54 Lateral movement of the pin 51, weight for this or any 52,-and lever 54 is limited by the loop 55. Numeral 56 indicates a small pin rigidly mounted in frame 3' for limiting the lateral movement of weight or gravity arm 46 in one direction.

The following is a description of the operation of my invention: The driving mechanism for the phonograph being set into operation, the stylus4 will run along through the grooves in the record 1 in the manner required to accurately reproduce the record. If, however, the operator should fail to understand fully any part of the record, and other reason should desire to have a part of the record repeated, it is only necessary to close the switch 44 to produce this result. The closing of the switch energizes the coil 40 which thereupon attracts the arlnature 37 and causes the same to swing the arm 34 to the right, viewing the apparatus as shown in Fig. l, the arm 34 rotating the shaft 13 through a certain angle. Through the keyway 20 in the shaft 13, the cam 31 is rotated to press down the rear end of lever 26 and raise the feed nut 11 from the feed screw 5. At the same time, the shaft rotates the cam disk' 18, with the result that the cam disk is first tilted because of the action of the cam surface 22 on the inner end of the screw 17 into binding engageinent with rod 13, as shown in Fig. 4, the further rotation of the shaft causing the cam surface 22 to exert a thrust on the screw 17 to shift the arm 3, with the parts carried thereby, in a backward direction, shown as above mentioned, by the arrow on Fig. l. The parts are so designed that the binding of the disk 18 on the rod 13 takes place before the rocking of the rod 13 by the arm 34 is finished. Since the arm 3 is not raised when shifted back, the stylus 4 is caused to slip or skid along the surface of the record across the record grooves during the back spacing operation, but as the stylus is rounded, it does not scratch the record or otherwise mar the same. The switch 44 is then reopened whereupon the magnet releases the armature 37 and the spring 35 rocks the arm 34 back to vertical position, causing the member 36 cushion 42 on the spring arm 41. The rotation of the arm 34 causes the rod 13 to return to its normal position, the feed nut 11 being thus moved back into engagement with the feed screw 5 and the cam disk 18 assuming the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The apparatus is now ready to repeat apart of the record. The whole operation of shifting back is instantaneously effected by pressing upon the switch 44, which may be automatically opened, as-by a spring 45, when the pressure thereon is removed. The stylus is spaced back a given amount'eac'h time the switch is closed. If the stylus is not spaced back far enough upon one closure-of the to abut against the 7 that frequently switch, the necessary amount of back spacing can be obtained by closing the switch a number of times.

It has been found, as hereinbefore stated,

in the back spacing movement during which the stylus slides or glides across the grooves, the pin 51 does not assume a central position in the U-shapcd loop 55, but rests against one side of the said loop, assuming the position shown in Figs. 6 and 7 by the dotted lines. By the employment of the pivoted weight arm 46, I have succeeded in obviating this difliculty. By referring to Figs. 6 to S, the operation of this arm will readily become apparent. During the back spacing operation, the weight 46 rests against pin 56 until the backward movement of the arm 3 is arrested. \Vhen this happens, the weight 46, impelled by its energy and momentum, will be projected about pivots 50, 50 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6. The lug of said gravity arm will then strike the pin 51, compelling it to assume its normal central position within the loop. Further forward movement of the gravity arm is prevented by its engagement with the U-shaped loop 55, as shown in Fig. 8. The weight 46 is so shaped and the center of gravity thereof so located that said weight will move by gravity about the inclined axis of the pivots 50 and 50 back to its normal position resting against the small projecting pin 56.

From the above description it will be seen that my invention is simple and will operate with rapidity, ease and certainty to produce the desired effect, at any point in the reproduction of the record, the cam disk 18 and the cam 31 moving along with the arm 3 and being capable of being operated instantaneously, regardless of the point where they may be on the shaft 13. Furthermore, the parts are comparatively few in number and there is little likelihood of the apparatus getting out of order. The gravity arm will always operate to place the styluscarrying pin in a position so that its free and flexible movement is assured. My invention, therefore, is of great commercial value and capable of satisfactory and long continued operation under the requirements and conditions of everyday use. The fact that the arm 3 is not raised when any part of the record is repeated, whereby the stylus is not lifted from the record but glides or skids over the surface thereof, is an important feature of my invention, the efliciency and simplicity of the apparatus thereby being increased. Furthermore, with phonographic back spacing or repeating apparatus heretofore commonly employed, in which the stylus is lifted from the record before being moved backwardly and after such backward movement is lowered upon the record, the lowering of the stylus upon the record causes a mark to be produced upon the record, this mark producing a disagreeable sound when the record is reproduced. This objection is eliminated by causing the stylus to glide or skid along the record, as is done in my invention.

I-wish to have it understood that the above description and the accompanying drawings disclose but one embodiment of my invention, and are, therefore, to be construed as being illustrative only.

Many changes may be made in the construction disclosed without departing from the spiritof my invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus mounted for free lateral movement and adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the sur face of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central position without lifting the same from the record, substantially as described.

2. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, a sound reproducing device comprising a stylus mounted for free lateral movement and adapted to track the record, means for moving said device relatively to the record to feed the stylus along the record, means for rendering said moving means inoperative and for simultaneously shifting the stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central position without lifting the same from the record, substantially as described.

3. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means operable by momentum to cause the stylus to assume a central position, substantially as described.

4. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means operable by momentum to cause the stylus to assume a central position without lifting the same from the record, substantially as described.

5. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and a movable weight operable by momentum to cause the stylus to assume a central position, substantially as described.

6. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and a pivoted Weight operable by momentum to cause the stylus to assume a central position, substantially as described.

7. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus mounted for free lateral movement and adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central position without lifting the same from the record, said centering means being arranged to return automatically to its normal position, substantially as described.

8. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means operable by momentum to cause the stylus to assume a central position, said centering means being arranged to return automatically to its normal position, substantially as described.

9. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and a movable Weight operable by momentum to cause the stylus to assume a central position, said weight being arranged to return automatically to its normal position by gravity, substantially as described.

10. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus mounted for lateral movement and adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glidev over the surface of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central position without lifting the same from the record, said centering means normally ofi'ering no resistance to the lateral movement of the stylus, substantially as described.

11. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, a sound reproducing device comprising a stylus mounted for lateral movement and adapted to track the record, means for moving said device relatively to the record to feed the stylus along the record, means for rendering said moving means inoperative and for simultaneously shifting the stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central position without lifting the same from the record, said centering means normally offering no resistance to the lateral movement of the stylus, substantially as described.

12. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus mounted for lateral movement and adapted to track the record, means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central position Without lifting the same from the record, said centering means being arranged to return automatically to its normal position and normally oflering no resistance to the lateral movement of the stylus, substantially as described.

13. In a phonograph, the combination of a support for a record, sound reproducing means comprising a stylus mounted for free lateral movement and adapted to track the record, electromagnetic means for shifting said stylus back toward the beginning of the record by causing the same to skid or glide over the surface of the record, and means for causing the stylus to assume a central 

